After the sealed card
by Ookami chosha
Summary: Short story on what I think could happen after Sakura jumped off the steps in the second movie. See the relationships of Sakura, Syaoran and their friends grow in my first ever posted fanfiction. SS, ET, YT all comment welcome. Enjoy. Sequal is now up.


Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura or any related characters

The light began to fade over the city of Tomoeda. Yukito walked along the path away from the amusement park looking from side to side with Kero floating along behind him. "Shouldn't we be going the other way?" Kero said looking behind him.

"I guess we maybe should be but we really need to see what's happened to Tomoyo, Meiling and Touya" Yukito replied continuing to look back and forth.

"Yukito is that you?" a voice echoed from in front of them soon two figures appeared through the mist which had descended. It was Touya along with his and Sakura's father. Kero immediately flew behind Yukito out of site but was a bit too late, they had already seen him. "What is that?" Mr Kinomoto asked and Touya tried to explain when Yukito interrupted him.

"Have you seen Meiling or Tomoyo? We really need to find them so that they can help find Sakura and Syaoran"

"Why what's happened to Sakura, what's going on?"

Touya explained as quickly as he could as Yukito and Kero looked on wondering what his reaction would be. By the time Touya was finished he was out of breath and was sweating due to his lack of breath. Unlike you would believe Mr Kinomoto took the news that his daughter had magical powers and was now lost, pretty well. "I felt that something was up but I didn't say anything" he muttered then added "so are all of you magically endowed or is it just you and Sakura and what ever your name is"

"The name's Kero and no we're not the only ones" Kero said floating at eye level to Mr Kinomoto. "He's right that kids got powers too doesn't he?" Touya asked referring to Syaoran "Yep and he went with Sakura to help her but first we've got to look for Meiling and Tomoyo". Yukito said and added "Kero could you take to the sky and see what you can find, check the area around the building where they disappeared they wouldn't have gone far if they reappeared like we did". Kero transformed into Keroberos and flew into the air in the direction off the building they had stood on not that long before. They started to walk in the direction they had come towards the amusement park and had only gone a little way when Keroberos came flying down from behind them with Meiling and Tomoyo astride him. "Tomoyo, Meiling are you alright" Yukito asked as they landed in front of them.

"We're fine, is there any sign of Miss Kinomoto and Syaoran" Meiling replied as they continued to walk with the amusement park gates drawing ever closer. "No not yet, I have a feeling that they're still somewhere in the amusement park" Yukito said and Kero chimed in "speaking of feeling do you think that they where able to find another way to capture that thing"

"Why what's up" Tomoyo asked with extreme concern in her voice. Kero explain about the conditions Eriol had told Sakura. "Poor Sakura, poor Li what are we going to do"

"First we are going to find them and then we will see if there is anything we can do" Mr Kinomoto suddenly said with a note of authority in his voice. He did not sound angry or upset, he just sounded very determined. They all nodded in agreement and continued to walk having now arrived at the amusement park gates the mist, which had now turned into a heavy fog thick around them.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open and she felt a warm glow resting on her cheeks. She was lying near the bottom of a large spiral stairway, which was unexposed to the wind. She could remember the battle, which had taken place she did not know how long ago. She could also remember that she had launched herself over a large gap into the arms of the boy she loved. "Syaoran" she yelped quickly lifting her head off the ground and looking round. "Sakura it's alright I'm here," Syaoran said coming over from the direction of the door having heard her stirring. He knelt down beside her and asked, "Are you feeling alright now".

"I think so, did…did I faint or something, I don't really remember what happened after you caught me"

Syaoran sat down with his back against the wall and Sakura curled up next to him while he explained that they had been able to get down the stairs but when they had looked outside they could not really see anything because of the fog. "We were both so tired because of all the magic we had used that it wasn't really safe to move from here so we came behind here and fell asleep" Sakura looked at him, he was blushing and then she asked " how long were we asleep for".

"No idea, I guess it can't have been that long the fog is still pretty thick out there" he said stilling blushing and looking rather nervous. "Did you mean what you said up there?" he added looking down at Sakura who immediately raised her head and replied with the same red blushing face and nodded her head. "Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked facing her, both of them were on there knees now. "I wanted to Syaoran, it's just… when… whenever I tried something or someone would interrupt me or I just couldn't find the words to say it, but I really do love you". Sakura answered surprising herself when she began to cry.

She also surprised Syaoran who immediately took her hands and pulled her up close to him. They knelt there just hugging for a few second but to Sakura and Syaoran who could hear or see nothing else than the darkness and the fire (which Syaoran had created using one of his talismans) it seemed like an eternity. They eventually drew away from each other and Sakura wiped her tear-filled eyes with the sleeve of her battle costume. Syaoran then sat back down and Sakura lay down beside him and rested her head on his lap. Within a few minutes both of them had fallen back into a deep sleep with the fire still crackling merrily in front of them.

"Sakura, Syaoran, Sakura where are you?" voices echoed through the dense fog which clouded everything from view. Meiling, Tomoyo, Touya and Mr Kinomoto had stuck together and where walking around the outside of the park, which was bigger than anyone thought. Yue and Keroberos had taken to the skies and circled around trying to pick up some sign of Sakura and Syaoran who had been missing for more than 4 hours since they had all reappeared after the attack of the sealed card. Tensions where mounting between the group on the ground. Touya continually shot glowering looks at Meiling much to the disappointment of his father. Yue came down from the sky as they made it back to the entrance. "Any luck" he said landing in front of them and looking around. "Not a single sign yet I'm starting to really get worried about them, I don't think they've been away for this long before" Tomoyo answered checking her watch again. "We should maybe move further in, after all we were near the roller coaster last time we saw them" Kero said coming down from the sky.

They made their way through the fog until they came in sight of the roller coaster but still could not see any sign of Sakura and Syaoran however, the battle that had taken place was still evident in the area around them. Parts of certain rides were still missing which showed how certain parts of the battle had ensued however, there was no indication as to which way the battle had lead until Kero noticed that there was one other place in the amusement park that had parts missing. "Look the clock tower maybe they are in there," Kero said and pointed to the vast holes that were in the side of the building. "Well it seems to be the only place that we haven't really looked," Meiling replied and they all walked towards it and began to hear a singing voice coming floating from inside along with the inviting flicker of light.

The fire flickered on behind them as Sakura and Syaoran danced along to the singing of the song card. They had lay Sakura's wand and Syaoran's sword to the side of the room and had decided to have a bit of fun while they waited for the fog to clear. Syaoran twirled Sakura round along with the music and they both smiled and laughed as they danced. As they danced, the other 52 Sakura cards surrounded them in a wide circle casting a bright pink light over the two of them. Unbeknownst to them however, they were being watched. Their onlookers were Yue, Kero, Mr Kinomoto, Tomoyo, Meiling and Touya. They all watched silently as Sakura and Syaoran stopped dancing and walked back around the corner as the wind blew through the door and Sakura shivered. "Is that better" they heard Syaoran ask not knowing what they there doing. They moved a little closer not so that they could be seen by Sakura and Syaoran but so that they could see what they were doing. Sakura and Syaoran now sat close to the fire and Sakura was resting her head on Syaoran's shoulder. Syaoran had put his arm around her shoulders and was now stroking her hair in an affectionate manner.

Suddenly Sakura jerked her head up abruptly. "What's the matter Sakura?" Syaoran asked as they reached for the wand and sword that lay on the floor beside them. "I...I thought I heard something, I think we're being…watched!" she answered and Syaoran helped her to her feet but they could see anything but they could now hear heavy breathing coming from above them. Syaoran put his hand into Sakura's and they moved round to the first step and they jumped out together and came face to face with Kero and Yue. They both jumped back, Sakura lost her footing falling backwards and pulled Syaoran down with her. "Sakura, Li your alright" Tomoyo exclaimed running up to them as Syaoran made sure that Sakura wasn't hurt due to the little tumble they had just taken. They both got up and Sakura gave Tomoyo a friendly hug. Sakura then looked up at the rest of the group and spotted her dad rushing towards them. He got up to Sakura and Syaoran and looked at them both. He then looked for a long time at Sakura. "You look so beautiful Sakura, I'm so proud of you" her dad said and hugged her. Syaoran started to look at his feet when Mr Kinomoto said, "Syaoran is it?"

"Y…Yes sir" he answered and felt Sakura slip her hand into his and give it a gentle squeeze. He looked at her and then at Mr Kinomoto who said, "Thank you for helping Sakura, I hope you will be sticking around". Syaoran smiled and gave Sakura a big hug. "Now let's all get home"

Over the next few weeks Sakura, Syaoran, Meiling and Tomoyo spent a lot of time together while Mr Kinomoto spent time arranging with Syaoran's mother whether there was any chance of Syaoran and Meiling being able to stay in Japan. By the time school was about to start back again Syaoran and Meiling had moved back in with Wie, Syaoran's butler and were enrolled back into Tomoeda Elementary.

The next morning Syaoran was up early for his first day back and went downstairs. "Morning Syaoran"

"Morning Wie. Is Meiling down yet"

"She's already gone said she was meeting young Miss Daidoji"

"Oh well I guess I'll see her at school, I better get going or I'm going to be late meeting Sakura"

"Well have a nice day bye"

"Bye Wie"

Sakura was up and dressed by the time Touya had got up. She had helped her father prepare the breakfast and was just about to start eating when Touya came down rubbing his eyes. He spotted Sakura and asked if he was late getting up. Sakura giggled and Touya knew that he was not late at all. Sakura was just early getting up. They were all in the middle of eating breakfast when the doorbell rang. Both Touya and Sakura jumped up. "That must be Yukito" Touya said and made it to the door first. "Who are you waiting for Sakura, is Tomoyo meeting you this morning?" Mr Kinomoto asked and saw Sakura blush scarlet because her father knew exactly who was coming over this morning. "No it's…" she began but was interrupted when Touya shouted through saying, "Sakura it's for you". Sakura jumped off her seat and made her way out into the hall where she was greeted by a smiling Syaoran and an angry Touya. She ran into Syaoran's arms and they have each other a huge hug. Mr Kinomoto came out to see who it was just as they started to come back to the kitchen. "Morning Mr Kinomoto" Syaoran said and gave a little bow as a sign of respect. "Good Morning Syaoran, are you ready for your first day in the 7th grade" Mr Kinomoto replied as Sakura went to get her hat and bag from her chair. "Yes thanks" Syaoran replied and then Mr Kinomoto turned to Sakura. "Where's Kero this morning"

"He was up all day yesterday playing video games and then kept on asking me questions for most of the evening so he's still very tired"

"Well then I'll leave some food one the counter top for him so that he can help himself"

"Thank you dad, we better be off see you later"

"Have a nice day and we'll see you and the girls tonight for dinner Syaoran"

"Ok bye"

Meiling and Tomoyo walked along the road towards the school gates, which had very few people going through it at that time in the morning. They went through the gates and sat on the wall and continued to chat about the coming year. "It's so great that you guys where able to stay here and come back to Tomoeda Elementary for this year. It's going to be so much fun," Tomoyo said looking towards the gate and then back at Meiling. "That's true I'm surprised we were able to stay" Meiling answered and looked towards the gate as well. There was no one coming through the gate at this point and the schoolyard seemed more or less empty however, there was a group of people coming towards them. "Good morning Tomoyo" one of them said and then noticed Meiling and added, "Hi Meiling I thought you went back to Hong Kong ages ago"

"We were going to but we decided to stay for one or two reasons" Meiling replied with a cheeky grin.

"We? Do you mean that Li is still in town as well, where is he" the only boy in the group said.

"Not sure I thought he would have been here by now. I wonder what's going on, hardly anyone's here this morning"

"Hye look isn't that Sakura's brother over there" another girl chimed in seeing Touya and Yukito walking past the gate.

All of them started to run towards them when Yukito spotted Tomoyo and Meiling and stopped. "Morning Tomoyo, morning Meiling why are you still in your uniform" he asked which confused the entire group. They looked round at each other and Touya sighed. He then pointed lazily at the gate which had a piece of paper attached to it which none of the group had seen. Tomoyo went round to the other side of the gate and read the sign aloud to the rest. "Pupils of Tomoeda Elementary, we are unhappy to report that the school will not be open this week due to unfinished work which took place in the later part of the summer vacation. The school however will start again as normal next week, Thank you and sorry for the disruption"

"I guess that's why Sakura and Syaoran aren't here, where could they be" Meiling said sounding very exasperated.

"Well Sakura did try to phone you Tomoyo but she couldn't get through so she asked that if we saw you we'd to tell you that they were going for a walk," Yukito said and pointed in the direction of Penguin Park.

"Of course I left my phone at home by accident this morning, thanks Yukito" Tomoyo answered and Touya and Yukito walked on towards the college.

They then turned to the rest of the group and after a short discussion; they had all decided to look for Sakura and Syaoran together. It did not take long for the group to get round to penguin park and they soon rounded the corner and Meiling snuck towards the entrance and peered round the corner. The rest came up behind her and looked into the park as well and beheld a rather surprising scene.

Sakura stood alone, her eyes shut. She suddenly jumped up and shouted, "Got you" and began to run. Syaoran jumped down from the swing top bar where he had been perched before Sakura had jumped up. They ran round the park a few times Sakura being slightly faster than Syaoran and they were laughing all the time. Sakura then ran up the steps of the slide and squatted out of Syaoran's reach. "Hye that's not fair," he said with a grin on his face. Sakura giggled and watched as Syaoran came closer to the bottom of the slide steps. He put his foot on the first step and Sakura twirled round and slid down the slide only to find Syaoran waiting at the bottom. They collided at the bottom and where spread wide. Syaoran immediately jumped up and ran over to Sakura. "Are you alright" he said and she began to laugh. "What's up" he asked as he helped her to her feet.

"You've got bark in your hair" she said and reached up to pick it out. Syaoran lifted his hand to his hair as well and their hands met at the back of his head. It was at this point that Syaoran noticed that Sakura had a small cut on the side of her cheek. He took his hand away from hers and put it on her cheek where the cut was. She cringed and he immediately said, "I'm sorry was that me".

"Of course not, it just happened when we fell over, you've got one as well" she said placing her hand gently over his cheek as well. They smiled at each other and walked back towards the swings. Syaoran sat down and Sakura followed and sat down beside him on the wall behind the swings. Sakura jerked her head up when she heard what sounded like a sneeze coming from the entrance to the park.

"Did you hear that," she asked looking around and then at Syaoran. "I sure did, and I think I know who it was" he whispered back and then whispered something else that Tomoyo, Meiling and the others could not hear. Sakura giggled and they disappeared from view. They all slowly moved into the park but Sakura and Syaoran were nowhere to be seen. "Where could they have got to know" Meiling said and put her hands on her hips in a very annoyed way.

"BOO". The whole group jumped a foot in the air and spun round in mid air. Sakura and Syaoran stood by the bushed on the near side of the park having jumped out of it and were now laughing at the looks of stunned surprise on their friends faces. Soon all of them were laughing. They all spent the rest of the day going round together.

As the notice had said the school started up at the beginning of the next week and everyone in class 6-2 were very surprised to see Meiling and Syaoran back again. They had all got the idea that they had gone home already. None of the class yet knew about Sakura and Syaoran's relationship. Not even the group that they had gone round with the previous week knew anything about it. This is because Sakura and Syaoran had agreed to keep it a secret for the time being and that the only ones apart from Meiling and Tomoyo who could know were their families and Yukito. They all kept the secret really well in school as it was only after school hours and at the weekend that the four of them were alone. Sakura and Syaoran found that the two of them were never really alone together as they almost always had Kero, Meiling or Tomoyo with them. The only time they could ever truly be alone would be when Sakura would suggest that the two of them go for a long walk in the evening. These times were the best times in Syaoran's opinion. They would just walk hand in hand or Syaoran would have his arm around Sakura's waist. They would mostly head towards the shrine. This place held a particular memory for them both as it was the place that Syaoran had confessed his love to Sakura about 6 months before. Many times, they would remember and talk about the many different adventures they had had in certain places. They laughed to think about certain things that had happened over the past two years. They also blushed to think that when they first met they were firm rivals for the title of the master of the clow cards and how they had now fallen in love with each other after all they had gone through.

There was still something they had not done whether because they were too embarrassed or whether they thought, they were too young they did not know. This thing was kissing. They had never kissed each other since they had got together. They had never kissed in any way apart from back when they played a prince and princess back not long after they first met. The thing was that it had no feeling to it, not like a kiss would now. Nevertheless, Syaoran and Sakura knew that it would happen sooner of later and when it did they would both be ready and the wait would be worth it.

Over the next few months Sakura and Syaoran,'s relationship flourished and bloomed along with the friendships between the four of them. Meiling stopped calling Sakura and Tomoyo by their surnames and often went around with them if Tomoyo wanted to do some more filming with the Sakura cards. The changes in attitude had also expanded to outside the group with Kero and Touya no longer being rude towards Syaoran. Kero had got so used to seeing him that he had grown to like him but that was mostly because he was rather bad at Kero's computer games so he generally won. Touya had come to the conclusion that if he made Sakura happy then he should be happy for them.

One morning in July about a year after the appearance of the Sealed Card, Syaoran got up to be greeted by a letter from his mother in Hong Kong. He opened it expecting the worst but was pleasantly surprised to find that his mother had sent a bunch of airplane tickets to Hong Kong. He then read the letter, which said: _My dear Syaoran, Your sixteenth birthday is drawing ever nearer and I have recently discovered that, that week you and your friends are off for the summer break. I would like it very much if you and your friends would come here to celebrate your birthday with your sisters and me. There are enough tickets there for four children and three adults. I must however insist that you invite your young friend Sakura and her father for I would very much like to discuss something with her father in person. The rest you can choose yourself. Can you give your reply to Wie as soon as possible so that he can inform me as to how many of you there will be and when you will be coming? Hope to see you soon dear love mother._

Syaoran could not believe it. He would be staying in Japan but he was going to visit his family and that Sakura would be with him. He ran up stairs and grabbed his phone off of the nightstand. He listened waiting for Sakura to pick up. "Hello" the voice came through one the other end of the line.

"Hi Sakura its Syaoran"

"Hi Syaoran is there something the matter"

"No of course not I just wanted to make sure we were still meeting each other this morning, I am just about to leave my house"

"Of course we're still meeting up; I'm just having my breakfast so I'll meet you outside"

"No that's ok, I'll ring the door bell when I get there, I'm wanting to ask your dad something anyway"

"Oh ok then I'll see you in a minute then"

"See you in a minute bye"

Syaoran put the phone down. He was out of the house in a few minutes Meiling following close behind him. He had told her straight after getting off the phone and she had decided to ask Tomoyo to come along to Hong Kong which Syaoran agreed with him thinking that it would be nice for all of them to have a bit of a holiday together. They parted at the bus stop and Syaoran hopped onto the first bus that came along. He was off the bus within about five minutes and ran down the road towards Sakura's house. He soon got there he rang the front door bell. He was greeted by a smiling Sakura who quickly noticed that he was out of breath. "Are you alright Syaoran" she said as he came in and they went into the living room. "I'm fine, I just ended up running here once I got off the bus, I have something to ask your dad" he said and he looked very excited. At that moment, Mr Kinomoto came through the living room door. Syaoran quickly told him about his mother's invitation to go to Hong Kong. Sakura excitement spreading over her face asked her father if they would be able to go. He agreed without hesitation and suggested that the last two adult tickets could be given to Touya and Yukito. Syaoran agreed and handed over the tickets then and there. He then turned to Sakura and gave her a hug.

By the end of the week, they were all pack and on the Saturday, they boarded the plane to Hong Kong. The journey took about 3 hours and during that time Sakura and Syaoran talked and slept side by side. When they arrived in Hong Kong they, we are greeted by a rather large welcome party. Syaoran's mother and sisters greeted him and Meiling warmly. The sister's made a great fuss of him and then made a fuss over Sakura, Meiling and Tomoyo. Syaoran's mother and Mr Kinomoto looked on at the children and smiled. "Right should we get back to the house now" Mrs Li said suddenly and she noticed Syaoran grabbing hold of Sakura's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. She smiled into herself happy to think that her son had got his answer from Sakura on his return to Japan. They were all bundled into a series of limousines. Syaoran's sisters in one, Touya, Yukito, Meiling and Tomoyo in another and Sakura, Syaoran, Mr Kinomoto and Mrs Li in the last. It took about 10 minutes to get to the Li family home, which was more like a mansion than a house. It seemed bigger than Sakura remembered from her visit about a year before. "Well here we are" Mrs Li said as two butlers on either side of the doors opened them. The Li mansion was incredible. The vast oak staircase branched of to the many wings and corridors of the house. "Meiling, you shall be sharing your room with Tomoyo ok why don't you show her the way" Mrs Li said. Meiling nodded and she and Tomoyo ran off up the stairs. "Girls would you be able to show Touya and Yukito their rooms please" she then said to her eagerly awaiting daughters who all crowded round the two boys and swept them up the vast staircase and out of sight. She then turned to Syaoran and Sakura and said "now Syaoran, Sakura's room is the one on the left hand side of yours can you take her up there please"

"Yes mother" Syaoran said and taking hold of Sakura's hand, they both ran up the stairs with the sound of laughter echoing behind them.

She finally turned to Sakura's father and said "Mr Kinomoto you have a very beautiful daughter there you must be very proud of her". He nodded and then answered "and you have a very handsome and polite son Mrs Li, I wish my Touya had the same manners".

"Well Mr Kinomoto your bedroom is a few rooms down from Sakura's on the opposite side of the hallway is that alright"

"Yes thank you" he replied and added "I heard from Syaoran that you wanted to discuss something with me"

"Oh yes, well I guess we could discuss it now after all better sooner rather than later" Mrs Li said in a matter of fact tone and indicated the door on the left which led through to a vast study.

"This room is beautiful Syaoran" Sakura said looking round the large room, which looked out onto the maze flower garden and the fields beyond that stretched to the horizon. The room was a lot larger than her room back at her house in Tomoeda. A beautiful pink draped four-poster bed stood on the far side of the room and the walls were a light pink and cream. A small pine chest of draws and a wardrobe were placed on the door wall and a heap of soft toys were in the other corner. "It matches you then" Syaoran answered "after all it would have to be beautiful so that you could stay in it with you being so beautiful".

"Oh Syaoran," Sakura said and her face went a deep red. She then ran up to him and he twirled her round on the spot. They both laughed together and started to spin each other around until they eventually spun out of control. Sakura fell onto the bed were as Syaoran spun round and landed in the pile of large soft toys. Sakura jumped up and helped him struggle out of the mass of fluffy bear, tigers and other soft animals. Both of them laughed and made there way over to the bed. Syaoran suddenly started to tickle Sakura's waist making her laugh and giggle uncontrollably.

Then it was his turn and Sakura started to tickle him as well. Suddenly their fun was interrupted by a knock on the outside of Sakura's door. "Come in" Sakura said and one of Syaoran's sisters open the door. "Syaoran, Sakura mother wants to see you two"

"Why is there something up," Syaoran enquired helping a startled faced Sakura to her feet.

"I don't think so, I think it's something to do with what ever she was talking to Mr Kinomoto about, anyway you'd better get down their as quick as you can." Sakura and Syaoran made their way down stairs and went to the door of Mrs Li's study. Syaoran knocked and waited for an indication that they were able to enter. "Come in Syaoran, Sakura" she said and they went in hand in hand. Mrs Li and Mr Kinomoto sat on either side of the desk and there were two empty seats beside it. "Now Syaoran, Sakura we have just had a long discussion about you two and your future. Syaoran do you remember what we did with you and Meiling when you two reached the age of nine"

"Yes mother you organised our engagement with her parents..." he started and then he realised what his mother was saying. "Do you mean that you want to arrange an engagement between me and Sakura?"

"Yes Syaoran if you two are agreeable that is exactly what we would like to do. As you know I've always had the desire to keep the magic of clow in the family and I don't want to break you two apart to do it"

"We both want you two to be happy" Mr Kinomoto chimed in and looked at Sakura and then at Syaoran and then added, "We will give you some time to think about it" and the two adults made to leave the room. "I don't need any time" Syaoran said suddenly and he was smiling "I say yes"

"So do I" Sakura said standing up beside him and slipping her hand back into his. "Well, I'm glad to hear it" Mrs Li said and headed back to her desk. She then briefly explained what would happen to Sakura and Syaoran and then took out an engagement registry paper, which Sakura, Syaoran and the two adults all signed. "Now Sakura you understand don't you that you cannot tell anyone of this until Syaoran's birthday in two days time and then we can make it a general announcement," Mrs Li said and Sakura nodded. She then practically jumped into Syaoran's arms and they both hugged each other. Sakura couldn't believe it. She was engaged to Syaoran who couldn't really believe it himself. He had wanted this for months and now his wish had come true.

"I cannot believe it," Sakura said as she and Syaoran made their way up the great oak staircase, along the corridors and came to her room. "Me neither," Syaoran replied shutting the door behind them and walking over to join Sakura who was sitting on the bed. "How are we going to keep this a secret, especially from Tomoyo and Meiling after all we never really get much time alone," Sakura said hanging her head. Syaoran lifted her head with his index finger and said, "We'll find away, I know we will". Soon the subject turned onto the party on Syaoran's birthday and who they thought would be coming. "I know that most of my family will be coming, you know my aunties, uncles and all that but I don't know who else".

"What about friends that you have here maybe they'll be coming".

"I guess so but…" Syaoran started and then sighed and flopped backwards onto the bed. "What's the matter Syaoran don't you want to see your friends," Sakura asked concerned and lay down beside him. Syaoran turned on his side to face her and said, "Yeah I do... but they'll start asking me awkward questions about us and I don't want to put you through that, the guys can get a bit critical when they get started".

"Don't worry about it, after all what's the worst think they could ask us" Sakura said and slipped her hand into his, which lay on the bed. Syaoran thought for a second and then said, "They'll probably ask if we've kissed each other yet, you know on the cheek they all say that they've done that". Sakura smiled at him and sat up. He then sat up not knowing what she was up to. "Is anything wrong?" he asked and Sakura did something rather unexpected. She leaned over and gentle kissed him on the cheek. She then turned her head the other away as her face blushed red with embarrassment. Syaoran smiled looking kind of surprised and then leaned over and kissed her cheek in turn. The embarrassment faded from Sakura's face and they gave each other a hug.

The next few days passed in haze of bright sunshine and hot weather. Sakura and Syaoran spent a great deal of time in the flower maze though no one quite knew what they were doing. Meiling and Tomoyo often joined then but also spent time with Syaoran's sisters doing embroidery and preparing outfits for the coming festivities. Yukito and Touya also spent a lot of time outside with Kero, who had found his way over to Hong Kong, Mr Kinomoto and Mrs Li. Mrs Li talked a lot to Kero and Yue as to the situations surrounding the appearance of Eriol and the activation of the once sealed card.

Soon the day of Syaoran's sixteenth birthday was upon them. That morning found everyone apart from Syaoran and Sakura pitching in with the work to get the house ready for that afternoon. Even though Sakura and Syaoran said that they wished to help with the preparations Mrs Li said that she thought it would be nice for the two of them if they didn't have to help. "After all" she said "it's not only Syaoran's celebration it's yours as well Sakura." She was meaning the forthcoming announcement of their engagement that afternoon. Therefore, they both decided to go back up to their rooms and relax.

They didn't have that much time to relax together though as one of Syaoran's sisters soon came up and told them that they'd better get ready. "I'll go and get your dress Sakura, Syaoran your suit is already on your bed" she said and left the room. Syaoran and Sakura gave each other a quick hug and kissed each other on the cheek. "See you downstairs" Syaoran said as his sister came back in. He then whispered something to her before letting go of her hand and walking out closing the door behind him. "You two look so cute together" she said and began to help Sakura in to the dress as it had to be worn a specific way. She then did Sakura's hair and said that she thought it would look best if it was left down. "You look beautiful" she said stepping back to look at Sakura in full. Sakura's dress was a lovely black dress, which had a matching orange and black shawl, which she could drape over her shoulders and put on like a cardigan if she wanted to go outside. As the sister left, she told Sakura that she should head towards the main staircase and she would be called down. Then she smiled and said, "I hope your ready to dance with Syaoran after all that's a tradition for us." She then left not waiting to hear Sakura's reply. Sakura crept towards the main staircase and peered into the entrance hall below. The place was full of people, some old, some young, some of the same age as her, Tomoyo, Meiling and Syaoran. She looked around and soon spotted Syaoran surrounded by a group of boys who all seemed very pleased to see him again. Sakura smiled and couldn't help think how handsome Syaoran looked. He was also wearing black and his hair lay like it always did. He looked slightly nervous as he talked to the boys.

"So what's it like over in Japan," one of them asked as Syaoran looked around. "It's really good" he answered. He had only just come down the stairs after his mother called him down and he knew that Sakura would be coming down any moment now. "So you're enjoying it then, I heard that you have a new girlfriend" another boy said quizzically and Syaoran sighed and said, "Yes her name is..." He was just about to tell him when his mother called out, "Your attention please everyone". The room went quiet almost immediately. "There is one important person whom is here that I would like to introduce to you all. This is Syaoran's girlfriend who has come with him from Japan. Please give a warm welcome to Miss Sakura Kinomoto". Everyone in the hall clapped until they saw Sakura ascending the stairs. Syaoran walked up to the bottom of the stairs and like everyone was stunned by how beautiful Sakura looked. They both reach the bottom step at the same time. Sakura curtsied while Syaoran bowed and took her by the hand and kissed it. The applause started up again as Syaoran lead Sakura onto the dance floor and started to dance. The dance they did was a very special dance as it was the Li family dance that was usually danced on such occasions. The truth was that Syaoran had been teaching Sakura it for the last few days when they seemed to be lost in the flower garden maze. Many members of the family stood taking pictures and soon some started dancing as well which made the experience more enjoyable for Sakura and Syaoran as a whole. As the music started to fade, the floor was cleared so that Sakura and Syaoran could finish as they had started with the floor to themselves. As the music came to a stop, Sakura knew what was coming next as she and Syaoran had decided it while his sister was out of the room. Everyone was applauding them when they noticed that the music had now stopped but Sakura and Syaoran were still on the dance floor. They had stopped dancing and were now kissing each other. One of Sakura's hands was placed at the back of Syaoran's head while the other was hugging him round the shoulders. Syaoran had both arms wrapped round Sakura with one hand on her back just below her neck. To them the kiss lasted forever. The whole world seemed to have slowed to a crawl and everything seemed perfect. When they eventually parted they were both smiling. The wait had definitely been worth it and everyone including Mr Kinomoto and Mrs Li were cheering. They hugged each other and laughed to think that they had both been scared that they were too young and that no one would have understood.

Soon the party was in full swing. Tomoyo and Meiling were surrounded by the boys that had previously been talking to Syaoran while Syaoran and Sakura danced a bit further on with Yukito, Touya and Syaoran's sister looking on. Every now and then one of Syaoran's relatives would call on him to give him a present and would generally enquire about Sakura who would go and join Meiling and Tomoyo. After a while, Sakura got a bit tired and so she and Syaoran went and sat by the open window. It was at this point that one of Syaoran's uncles arrived after a rather long trip. His name was Caspian and he liked Syaoran a lot. He came through the door and was greeted by Meiling. "Caspian you made it". He smiled down at her for he was quite a tall man and said, "Bless me, is that mini?". This was his pet name for Meiling and had been for years. "Caspian please" Meiling said blushing red with embarrassment.

"Sorry I just always loved calling you that, how are you? Are you enjoying living in Japan?"

"Yes, it's really nice and we have a lot of friends. Hye Tomoyo over here I'd like to introduce you to someone". Tomoyo ran over much to the disappointment of the boys who had been dancing round her. "Caspian this is Tomoyo, Tomoyo this is Syaoran's uncle Caspian" Meiling said and Caspian shook Tomoyo's hand warmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you Tomoyo," he said and added, "So where is the birthday boy then". He looked around and spotted Mrs Li coming towards him with her flung wide. "Caspian, you made it Syaoran will be so glad, where is he?"

"He's over there at the window with..." Meiling began when Caspian suddenly shouted, "Syaoran you little scamp over here." Syaoran turned round and got up. He helped Sakura to her feet. Caspian could see that he was trying to get her to come over as well but she seemed reluctant to comply. He eventually seemed to give in and giving her a kiss, he ran towards his uncle. "Uncle Caspian" Syaoran shouted and hugged his uncle round the middle. "Hye Syaoran, Happy Birthday kid" Caspian said as Syaoran let go and stepped back. He then added in a whisper " So who's that then Syaoran? She's very pretty".

"That's Sakura, she's my girlfriend, hang on a minute I'll go and get her" Syaoran said and ran back toward the window where Sakura was standing. He was back within a few minutes hand in hand with Sakura who looked highly embarrassed. "Sakura, this is my uncle Caspian, Uncle Caspian this is Sakura," Syaoran said and gave Sakura's hand a gentle comforting squeeze. "It's a pleasure to meet you Sakura; you're very pretty, nice catch Syaoran" Caspian said and gave Syaoran a wink. "Sakura, Syaoran are you coming back up to dance" one of the boys called. They were about to reply when Mrs Li put a hand on either of their shoulders and whispered, "It's time you two". She then led the two of them towards the grand staircase where a table had been set up with an old box on it. "Your attention everyone" she shouted and the music stopped and everyone look in their direction. "As you are all aware about 18 months ago my son Syaoran had his engagement to his cousin Meiling cancelled due to his heart belonging to someone else. In light of this I have a very special announcement," she paused for affect and then began again saying, "Two days ago around this time I arranged a new engagement for Syaoran to Sakura Kinomoto with the approval of her father, herself and Syaoran. Tonight we perform the official ceremony which will bless their union and I hope you will all be very happy for them". As she ended, a babble of talk broke out and then amongst the family members, who had started to clap at the news Tomoyo and Meiling ran up and the four of them had a group hug. "You were able to keep it a secret, I can't believe it", Meiling repeated over and over as she would never have suspected that their parents would have agreed to the union. They were soon surrounded by Syaoran's family members who stood congratulating them. Then it was the turn of Syaoran's friends or at least the male ones. They kept on calling him "a luck devil" and clapping him hard on the back while the girls apart from Tomoyo and Meiling stood back looking very annoyed. One of them soon got too annoyed and shouted, "What's so great about her anyway it's not as if she has any magic in her blood, she's nothing but a commoner". This made everyone turn round to look at her. She was a vainly beautiful girl who was of the same age as Sakura. Her name was Riana and she had a mean temper on her. The whole family lined up to shield Sakura from her but also to shield the girl from Syaoran for he was very, very angry with her for calling Sakura a commoner. Sakura coughed to make herself heard. The crowd of family members parted so that she could walk through them towards Riana. Behind her walked Syaoran who was slightly held back by Tomoyo and Meiling. "Do you think you are better than me?" Sakura asked looking Riana straight in the face. Her voice was incredibly calm and she had a small smile creasing the corner of her mouth. "Yes I do," Riana snapped and gave Sakura a hard push. Sakura fell on the floor, which made Syaoran even more angry. He struggled against Tomoyo and Meiling who eventually let him go and he ran to help Sakura up. However, he was not the only one who came to her side. Yukito came out from the crowd while Kero flew down from the chandelier and stood by ready to protect her. Syaoran helped Sakura to her feet and she smiled. She then whispered something to Syaoran who smiled as well. He then gave her a kiss and immediately got out of the way telling everyone to stand back.

Sakura took a chain from around her neck and held it out in front of her at arms length. She then nodded to Yukito and Kero who both were surrounded by a blue light. Wings formed around the two of them and when the wings opened up they had transformed into Yue and Keroberos. Sakura then chanted, "Key that hides the power of the stars, show your true form before me. I, Sakura, command you under our contact. RELEASE!" Everyone gazed in wonder as the Key that was attached to the chain turned into a star topped wand. Syaoran then threw a case towards Sakura, who caught it, smiled and then removed one of the cards from it. She then threw the card into the air and touching it with the tip of the wand shouted, "FLY". Sakura grew wings before their eyes and took flight with Yue and Keroberos by her sides. They all flew over the groups on the ground. Syaoran laughed to see the stunned looks on many of his family's faces. He ran out to the middle of the hall where he caught Sakura in his arms and the wings disappeared. Sakura and Syaoran hugged and kissed each other as Yue and Keroberos landed beside them. "That was truly magical," Caspian said as everyone started to applaud them and cheer. Then he added, "So you are the new master of the Cards, Sakura, I guess they are now known as the Sakura Cards instead of the Clow Cards."

"Yes, they are" Sakura said coming over hand in hand with Syaoran. She opened the case that Syaoran had thrown to her a moment before and showed Caspian the top card on the pack, which turned out to be the Hope Card. So far she had only really shown it to Syaoran and explained that it was created by two half cards. One of which was the Sealed Card, the other was a card that formed from Sakura's tears when Syaoran left over 22 months ago.

Soon Sakura and Syaoran were back on the dance floor with Tomoyo, Meiling and the rest of the children. Even most of the girls had joined in having been convinced that Sakura was right for Syaoran and were happy to see that he was truly enjoying himself. Caspian was engaged in a long talk with Mr Kinomoto about archaeological digs as it turned out that not only was Mr Kinomoto an Archaeologist but Caspian was also an Archaeologist. Syaoran's sisters and mother now surrounded Yue and Keroberos. Mrs Li asked them if they had planned the little display and to her surprise, they both said no, they had done it on the spur of the moment with the only thing on their minds being Sakura's safety. Touya was listening in as Keroberos told Mrs Li how strong Sakura had got especially since she and Syaoran had got together. Yue kept his eyes fixed on Sakura and Syaoran as they danced in the middle of all their friends.

Evening was soon upon them, Syaoran's friends had returned home and Sakura and Syaoran were trying to relax in Syaoran's room. They had had Tomoyo and Meiling with them for almost an hour and they had all sat on the floor talking about what they would be doing the next day. Meiling had suggested that they visit their old school and then go into Hong Kong for the rest of the day. They all agreed and then Meiling and Tomoyo left to give Syaoran and Sakura some time alone. They now sat on Syaoran's bed. Syaoran lent against his pillows while Sakura lay beside him with her head on his shoulder. They were also holding hands while Syaoran had an arm round Sakura hugging her close to him. They had got changed into different clothes, which were meant especially for the ceremony, which was to occur in about two hours. "Are you nervous", Syaoran asked looking down at her. She lifted her head from his shoulder and said "Just a little, are you?"

"Not really, I'm glad that the secrets out though, you don't regret it do you" he asked with a note of concern in his voice. Sakura sat up looking rather startled at the question but Syaoran was smiling so she realized that it wasn't that he was having regrets but that he was just making sure that it would make her happy. "I would never have any regrets, after all it's taken a long time for us to get to this point and I wouldn't be happy any other way. I love you Syaoran," Sakura said and they kissed each other once more. "I love you too Sakura," Syaoran replied and they snuggled together and fell asleep for a couple of hours. It was very peaceful and nothing stirred in the room or the rooms around it. Downstairs however the family was preparing the food and the grand dinning hall for the ceremony. A table of solid oak ran half the length of the hall and on the top of a small platform at the far end, a sort of arch had been erected. The arch was covered in beautiful flowers and a table was set behind it with a wooden box on it. Mr Kinomoto aided with the setting of the platform and then Mrs Li explained to him what would happen. She had already explained it to Syaoran and Sakura on the day that the engagement was made. As the time grew near everyone began to get even more excited and the feeling of anticipation was mounting. Yukito, Touya, Tomoyo and Meiling all stood together apart from the adults. They had all been given ceremonial clothes as well as Mrs Li decided that it would be nice for them to be involved in the ceremony.

Soon everything was ready, the platform was fully set up and everyone was in their places. Well, almost everyone, Sakura and Syaoran were still in Syaoran's room sleeping side by side. Sakura's eyes fluttered open and she sat up slightly. She looked around and then realizing what the time was lowered her head again. She kissed Syaoran gently on the cheek and whispered "Syaoran, I think we should make our way down stairs, it's almost time for the ceremony to begin." Syaoran woke up with a start and looked round the room. Then realizing himself what the time was he calmed slightly. "Sorry I must have dosed off" he said.

"He he we both dosed off" Sakura giggled

"Oh well we better make our way down then, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be"

Syaoran smiled and slipping his hand around hers gave it a gentle squeeze. They both smiled and left the room. They slowly walked along the hallway towards the stairs, Syaoran leading Sakura by the hand. They got to the top of the staircase and peered down into the entrance hall below. It was deserted and then Sakura noticed a note hanging on the wall next to where they were standing. Sakura pointed it out and the taking it gently off the wall handed it to Syaoran. This is what he read: _Syaoran and Sakura, Everything is ready down here. Please if you are reading this at around 8 o'clock make your way down to the dinning hall. Knock 3 times and someone will open the door. Smile and enjoy yourselves my darlings this is your night after all. _

Syaoran finished reading it for the second time and said, "Well we'd better make our way down then". Sakura smiled and nodded in reply and made their way down the stairs and along to the door of the dinning hall. They both looked at each other, each could tell that the other was very nervous and they hugged each other before Syaoran knocked hard on the large oak door. It swung open before them. What a sight met their eyes. The room was amazing. Streamers, balloons and Chinese lanterns hung from the walls and ceiling. Candles lit the room making a rather romantic atmosphere. On either side of the door Meiling and Tomoyo stood baskets in their hands, the baskets were filled with cherry blossom and phoeny and the two girls walked in front of Sakura and Syaoran showering them and the path that had been made through the crowd with the flowers. Sakura and Syaoran soon got up to the platform where Touya, Yukito, Mrs Li and Mr Kinomoto were standing. They made their way up the two or three steps and came to a halt under the arch in front of their parents. They stood under the arch, face to face, as they had been told.

Mrs Li then shouted, "Family, friends, we have gathered upon the evening of my son's 16 birthday to finalise the engagement of Sakura Kinomoto and my son Syaoran Li". Everyone cheered and Mrs Li with Mr Kinomoto's help tied a cord round the children's hands, which were clasped together in front of them. She then whispered a blessing and Touya and Yukito said another blessing out loud to finalise the ceremony. The rest of the evening was spent having a large feast and the rest of Syaoran's birthday including a very large cake. There was dancing as well which included all of the adults and Syaoran's other cousins. Everyone joined in including Mrs Li who Sakura had gotten used to calling Yelan over the last few days, and Mr Kinomoto who Syaoran and the rest had gotten used to calling Fujitaka. Everyone was having a great time and it was about 11 o'clock before the party started to wrap up. By that time, it was too late for everyone to go home so everyone was put into rooms in the mansion. However, the four Card captoring kids decided not to go to sleep just yet so Syaoran went and got drinks from the kitchen while the three girls either sat on the floor in sleeping bags or in Sakura's case on Syaoran's bed. "Wasn't tonight just brilliant" Meiling said trying to keep her voice as low as possible despite her extreme excitement. "It sure was and I got so much kawiiaa footage of Sakura and Syaoran that I can edit and put music to, oh this is so good I can hardly contain myself" Tomoyo said getting more excited than Meiling was. Sakura just sat on the bed deep in thought. She only had one word to describe that day. "Magical" it had been truly magical from the dress she had worn to the kiss on the dance floor to the ceremony and dancing at the end of the night. She came out of her thoughts when she felt Syaoran pressing his lips on hers, she could tell it was him because he smelled of sandalwood just as he said she smelled of cherries. They stopped kissing when they heard someone clear their throat to see Fujitaka and Yelan standing at the door with very amused expressions on their faces. "now how about you 3 get to your own rooms otherwise none of you will get a decent nights sleep and you won't have any energy for what ever your planning to do tomorrow" Yelan said and Sakura, Meiling and Tomoyo got up to leave the room. "Night Syaoran" Meiling and Tomoyo said leaving the room followed by Yelan. Sakura and Syaoran stood hugging each other goodnight but neither wanted it to finish. Fujitaka knew what it was like at their age and knew especially how affectionate they were but they were still sensible about it. He could remember how he and Nadeshiko used to be and she was the same age as Sakura and Syaoran were, were as he had been a young college professor just starting out. Sakura and Syaoran eventually parted from each other and Syaoran kissed Sakura on the nose before she left. Sakura walked up to Fujitaka and hugged him and said "goodnight dad" before turning back to Syaoran. She couldn't leave without doing one more thing. Fujitaka knew exactly what it was so he turned his back to give them a little more privacy. She immediately ran up to Syaoran and crashed her lips into his in a sweet goodnight kiss. She then ran out into her own room before he could say or do anything. All Syaoran did though was smile and climbed into bed. Fujitaka turned round and walked up to his bed and much to Syaoran's surprise embraced the young man. Syaoran had rarely experienced such affection apart from Sakura. Fujitaka pulled away and said "You mean so much to Sakura and now you are more or less part of the family" and with that he left. Syaoran, if he had been any other boy, would have been confused by this but he wasn't. Syaoran knew that Fujitaka had done it out of respect for the fact that in the next few years he and Sakura would cease to be girlfriend and boyfriend and would become husband and wife.

The rest of the summer break was as fun as the first few days with them spending time with Syaoran's friends and staying at the house. Soon the break was over and they had to go back to Tomoeda for the next trimester. Yelan and the rest of Syaoran's family saw them off from the Airport. "Well Syaoran take care of yourself and Sakura," Yelan said hugging her only son goodbye once more. Then his sisters smothered him with hugs and saying "how grown up their di di (Chinese for little brother) had become".

The trip back to Tomoeda wasn't very eventful and passed relatively slowly with Sakura and Syaoran falling asleep during the flight. Wie was waiting for them when they got back so that he could take Syaoran and Meiling back to the flat. Both Sakura and Syaoran were still sleeping when they got back home and had to be carried to the taxis in order to get them home. The next day was their first day in 8th grade and they would need plenty of energy for that day. Fujitaka told Wie to tell Syaoran that Sakura would meet him by the cherry tree the next morning.

Syaoran woke up the next morning bright and early just like normal to train. He had decided to keep up his practicing in order to stay fit. "Ohayo Syaoran-sama" Wie said "Sakura-sama said last night that she would be at the shrine waiting for you before school starts".

"Arigato Wie-san" Syaoran answered making his way to his room to finish getting ready. He grabbed his bag and was out the flat going towards the bus stop within 10 minutes. He was looking forward to being back at Tomoeda Elementary but was nervous as how to act around Sakura now that they were engaged, he would ask her about it when he met her. He arrived at the tree but couldn't Sakura yet not that he was surprised. He stood watching the direction in which Sakura would arrive when her up side down face appeared in front of him. He was rather started almost falling backward but was able to steady himself enough. "Ohayo Syaoran-kun" Sakura said swings upside down from one of the tree branches. Syaoran smiled up at her and lightly pressed his lips to hers and said "Ohayo Sakura". Sakura got down or rather slipped down landing lightly in Syaoran's arms. They made their way to the school talking about how they were going to tell their friends about the engagement. They soon decided they would only tell them if they were asked. They arrived at the school to discover a large vortex in the middle of the gravel/sand field and to their dismay; all of their friends including Tomoyo and Meiling were all stuck in the sand. They all cried out for help while a laugh almost cold split the air. Sakura and Syaoran looked up to see a tall figure surrounded by a billowing cloak, which was being blown around in the breeze. Sakura did the only thing she could think of and released the sand card to stop the vortex while Syaoran used his wind element to lift their friends from the sand and to safety. "Alright who the hell are you and why did you attack our friends" Syaoran yelled when suddenly the figure and all their friends disappeared from in front of them. Then they heard laughter, cheers and murmurs of "sugio" and the like. All their friends appeared from behind one of the hedges while Eriol Haiirakizawa jumped down from a tree. The whole thing had been an illusion so that all of their friends could be in on the great card-capturing secret. "HAIIRAKIZAWA I'M GONNA KILL YOU?" Syaoran bellowed streaking after Eriol who ran away smiling and laughing all the way. Soon however, he gave up the chase, went back to Sakura, and sat her delicately on his lap wrapping his arms around her from behind. All of their friends looked stunned watching Syaoran whispering something into Sakura's ear, which made her blush scarlet before she nodded and whispered something back. "Since when did you two get so friendly?" Chiharu asked voicing the rest of the gang's opinion not counting Meiling, Tomoyo or Eriol. "Well that would be for about 2 years" Syaoran said pretending to look deep in thought "At least since after the Nadeshiko festival". Sakura sat on his lap laughing while looking at their friend's stunned faces and the fact that Syaoran was currently making fun of them. "Oh and don't forget the engagement Syaoran what ever you do," She added winking at Syaoran as their friends faces became even more shocked and surprised. Yamazaki even looked as if he might faint, Chiharu looked dumbfounded and Naoko and Rika were gapping like startled fish. "YOU TWO ARE ENGAGED?" the four yelled all at the same time. They then let out string of questions such as:

"When did you start going out?"

"How long have you been going out?"

"When were you going to tell us you were an item?"

"How and when did you get engaged"? There were many more and Sakura and Syaoran had a hard time answering them all. After 10-15 minutes their friends had calmed down but were still looking shock as Sakura sat on Syaoran's lap and Syaoran tickled her or lightly blew on her neck making her giggle and blush at his obviously playful actions in such a public spot. The friends then blushed and turned their heads to avert their eyes as Syaoran captured Sakura's lips in a rather passionate kiss, which quickly turned into a 5-minute long make out session. It just so happened that after the kiss they had shared on the dance floor during Syaoran's birthday party, Sakura and Syaoran were not shy about locking lips when others were around to see them. They had also made it a morning ritual to, as Tomoyo said "engage in a friendly but fierce game of tonsil tennis" when greeting each other each morning. As they parted, the friends watched and knew that the next few years were going to be very good indeed.

Two years passed in a whirl of romance, exams, magic and fun for the group of friends. Now on the eve after their last exam a vast prom had been organised to mark the end of their time at the school. Almost all the group's members had a partner. Sakura and Syaoran, Tomoyo and Eriol, Chiharu and Yamazaki, Noako and Duo (a boy she met at the computer club), Meilin and Kyle (a friend of hers from Hong Kong who had come for a visit). The only one who didn't appear to have a date was Rika and the girls said they'd spend plenty of time with her during the prom. "It's alright guys I'll be fine you guys go have plenty of fun" she said as they talked about it on the way out of school. Syaoran and Eriol had said they would pick Sakura and Tomoyo up at Sakura's house 20 minutes before the start of the dance and they were true to their word. Eriol had said he would wait in the Limo while Syaoran went to get the girls. He rang the doorbell and waited for it to open or for him to be called in all the while making sure his bowtie was straight, his hair was at least semi-neat and that his tux jacket and trousers were not creased or wrinkled in anyway. He wanted to look perfect so he would match Sakura who to him would look perfect even if she went in a t-shirt and flannel trousers. "Hai, Hai I'm coming" Mr Kinomoto's voice sailed through the door before he opened it to greet Syaoran. "Konban wa Syaoran you're looking very nice this evening, are you nervous?" he said as Syaoran stepped across the threshold. "Konban wa Fujitaka" he replied, "Iie I'm not, are Sakura and Tomoyo ready yet?" Fujitaka did not get a chance to answer as someone let out a delicate cough from behind them. Tomoyo and Sonomi stood at the bottom of the stairs side by side. Tomoyo looked very elegant in a royal blue dress with a skirt that came just above hr knees with a lace veil of the same colour coming from the waist and trailed the floor. She was also wearing blue strap heals on her feet. "Konban wa Tomoyo, Ms Daidoji" he said with a deep bow. Both women bowed in return and stepped to the side to let Syaoran see Sakura. There was no single word that came to Syaoran's mind to describe her so he had to settle with a list. 'Stunning, breath taking, beautiful, elegant, my emerald eyed angel' he thought as he watched her descend the stairs. Her now long auburn hair was tied in a simple high ponytail at the back of her head. She was wearing a beautiful long forest green dress, which fitted her like a glove showing off her superb figure. The dress was sleeveless and more-or-less backless apart from the thin straps which criss-crossed down to the small of her back to hold the dress in place. She also had heals on so she almost matched him in height. "Konban wa Syaoran" Sakura giggled as she watched her boyfriend of 3 or 4 years stand slack-jawed and in awe. She walked over and using her index finger she closed his mouth before saying "you look very handsome tonight my koibito". This made him go weak at the knees but instead of falling, he decided to do the same to her and whispered "and you look very beautiful yourself my Koishii". Sakura shivered as he said that any gave him an impish grin. "Kawaii! oh you guys are just too much I think I'm going to faint," Tomoyo exclaimed clapping her hand to her forehead in a very dramatic way. "Come on drama queen, I'm sure Eriol is waiting for you in the limo and is dying to see what his _date_ looks like" Sakura said emphasising the word date much to Tomoyo's embarrassment. They all walked into the limo as Eriol opened the door to let them in. He held his hand out to help Tomoyo in and as she sat down kissed the back of her hand causing her to go scarlet. "Konban wa Tomoyo" he said in almost a whisper as Sakura and Syaoran entered the limo shutting the door behind them. "Konban wa Eriol" Tomoyo replied trying to stop herself from blushing. "Kawaii" Sakura whispered in Syaoran's ear making him chuckle at his girlfriends obvious attempt in further embarrassing her best friend. The limo ride was more or less silent with it stopping every now and them to pick up Chiharu, Yamazaki, Noako, Duo, Meilin, Kyle and Rika. They arrived at the school as the dance was about to begin. Rika disappeared soon after they arrived telling them to start having fun and that she was going to the bathroom. Truth be told she was actually meeting their elementary school teacher Yoshiyuki Terada whom she has shared a secret relationship with since she discovered the engagement of Sakura and Syaoran believing that if they could rise to fulfilling their deepest dreams then so could she. She walked up to him as he stood in the shadows waiting for her. "Konban wa Yoshiyuki" She said in barely a whisper but loud enough for him to hear it. "Konban wa Rika, my koibito" he replied pulling her into the shadows with him. Then he laid a gentle but passionate kiss on her lips before she dragged him out onto the dance floor where they both fully enjoyed themselves. The evening turned into late night as the prom went on and every one was up on the dance floor making the most of whatever song happened to be on whether it was a slow song, fast song, rock song or metal song. A song for a group such as line dancing songs or songs for couples to sway or grind to. Soon after midnight, the prom started to break up. Many couples started to leave for home, which included Sakura and Syaoran who decided to take a walk to the shrine and in the process a walk down memory lane. They walked past Penguin Park and thought over the cards they had caught and the other events that had taken place there and the other places they visited. Finally, they came to the shrine and walked under the arch towards the tree by which so much had happened. They had caught about two cards there and turned about two into Sakura cards there too. They had also partially fought Yue there, defeated Eriol there and finally Syaoran had confessed his love there. It seemed like they had come full circle. "I cannot believe that schools finished, everyone is going their separate ways," Sakura said leaning up against the tree in which the return card had hidden from them. "Yeah there are endings and new beginnings for all of us, including us my beautiful cherry blossom" Syaoran replied unwrapping his arms from around her waist to bend down on one knee. He put his hand in the inside pocket of his tux jacket and pulled out a black box. "Sakura I know we are already technically engaged but I still want to do this as if we aren't" he said and opened the box saying "Sakura Kinomoto will you marry me?" Sakura looked stunned, the ring was in the design of a curled wolf with one emerald eye and it was curled round a pink stone. She had never expected this, she had expected that they would probably be called and told that they would be married at a certain time. Nevertheless, she was wrong and was now standing tears rolling down her cheeks, as she nodded, not trusting her voice, and Syaoran slipped the beautiful ring on her finger. They then pulled each other into a heated and passionate kiss before Syaoran spun them both round on the spot before setting her down once more to kiss her again.

"Oh Tomoyo I cannot believe I'm doing this I'm getting married today" Sakura said watching Tomoyo finished putting her hair up with her veil falling lightly over her face. Tomoyo, Sakura noticed had not been very well lately and had gained a little weight though Sakura accounted it to her being stressed out by spending her time making all the outfits for the wedding. The ceremony was due to start when Tomoyo left Sakura with her thoughts for 5 minutes then Fujitaka came in to lead his daughter down the aisle. They had decided on an odd twist for the wedding ceremony. Like traditional weddings, there would be the usual vows, rings and sharing of Sake but the twist was that the aisle was though the middle like the top of a "T" with it meeting in the middle to go down to the alter. Sakura would be lead down one side towards the middle while Syaoran would be accompanied by Yelan down from the other. Each would be holding a lit candle with their signature colours of pink and green. When they reached the middle, Fujitaka and Yelan bowed to each other. A third candle, which had both pink and green running around it. The flame from the other two candles were used to light it and were then blown out. Sakura and Syaoran then proceeded down the centre of the aisle till they reached the alter. The wedding was amazing and everyone was in tears by the end including Touya.

Later Sakura sat on the edge of a fountain in the Li residence looking out over the garden and thinking about how happy she was and happy she would be from now on. "Penny for your thoughts love" Syaoran asked wrapping his arms round his new wife as she stood to great him. "No I'm fine just thinking about how much we have been through since I opened the Clow Book" Sakura replied firmly wrapped in Syaoran's arms. "Yeah we've come along way since that day we met haven't we, from rivals to friends to best friends to girlfriend and boyfriend to engaged and now were married. I would say we been through a lot but it was all worth it."

"Yeah I cannot believe it's all over, is this really the end of it all?"

"No koishii this is merely the beginning"

With that Sakura and Syaoran made their way back Hong Kong so that Syaoran could take up his position as the Li clan leader. They received news over the years of Tomoyo and Eriol's engagement and marriage as well as the news of birth of their twins who were named Sakura and Syaoran. They also heard from Touya and Yukito who took part in a civil ceremony and adopted a young girl they named Kura (short for Sakura. They heard from other friends too and made up their minds that they would return to Tomoeda some day but for now Hong Kong is where they would stay.

Thank you for reading my story. Please R and R so i know whether or not to put the seqeul up.

Ookami Chosha


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